The practice of forming vertical holes in earth formations by power driven augers has long been followed. The earth removed from the hole is known in the art as auger spoil. For many years the conventional procedure for disposing of auger spoil has been to merely elevate the auger out of the hole and spin it in the direction opposite to that of its rotation in the digging operation. The spoil is literally spun off of the auger and falls indiscriminately onto the earth surface about the hole.
The above outlined procedure has long been recognized as presenting many undesirable features. Thus the attention of engineers, research workers and inventors has been directed to alleviating this undesirable condition. As a result of these efforts there is now known apparatus for collecting and loading auger spoil which includes a rotating hopper or container which receives spoil spun from an auger elevated thereabove. The container wall is formed with an opening which on each revolution of the container aligns with a gap in a fixed cylindrical wall. One end of a conveyor belt is located at this gap to receive spoil that is discharged from the container by centrifugal force.
This known apparatus has one inherent feature which is highly undesirable. It resides in the fact that it is originally designed to accommodate an auger hole of one size. Whatever the diameter of the auger hole may be it is obvious that the central opening in the bottom of the container cannot be smaller than that of the auger hole because the auger could not then be passed therethrough which is necessary to elevation of the auger. On the other hand if it is of a diameter greater than that of the auger hole spoil will fall down into the space between the auger hole and the edge defining the opening. Such spoil will not be subjected to the centrifugal force generated by spinning the container which discharges the spoil into the conveyor.
Thus, from the viewpoint of maximum efficiency in operation, a spinning annular plate which presents a central opening; the diameter of which may be adjusted to conform to that of a particular auger hole, is indicated as being highly desirable.